"That's Vegas, Baby!"

During their flight to Vegas a few days ago, Tristan Jarry and Jake Guentzel reflected on just how far they've come in their professional hockey careers.
After being drafted together by Pittsburgh in 2013 - the goalie in the second round and the winger in the third round - the two of them attended the 2022 NHL All-Star festivities together this past weekend as the Penguins representatives.

"It's really cool," Jarry said. "We kind of talked about that on the plane, how many years we've been together. Just being in the Pittsburgh organization, going up through Wilkes. Now being here and getting to do this together, it was pretty special to be able to do that with someone that you were drafted with."
And they were able to win together, which made everything even better. The Metropolitan Division defeated the Central by a score of 5-3 in the NHL All-Star Game on Saturday at T Mobile Arena, with Guentzel saying that getting the victory may be the most memorable part of this whole experience.
"Get to go home with some money, and it's just a good event and good weekend overall," Guentzel said with a grin. "To be able to meet new people and just to experience Vegas for the All-Star game is special."
"It's fun to win and being in Pittsburgh, we love winning," Jarry added. "I think that's just the culture that we have. It's nice to win. … I guess the Metro just had a good one today."
It was certainly a much better outcome for the Metro compared to Jarry's first All-Star Game back in 2020. With the setup of the 3-on-3 tournament and each game consisting of two 10-minute periods split between the team's goalie tandem, Jarry only got to play in one after the Atlantic eliminated the Metro.
"I joked with my parents about it, that they might only get to see me for 10 minutes and 30 seconds again through the whole two days," he said with a laugh. "So it's something that it's fun to be able to play in that second game and to be able to win. I think it was a lot more enjoyable."
The afternoon started with the Metro facing off against the Pacific. Guentzel skated with Philadelphia's Claude Giroux (who also served as the Metro Division captain) and Carolina's Sebastian Aho. Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour, who was behind the bench for the Metro, said he simply put together some trios and asked if they were good to go.
"That's what's cool about this, is you get to kind of be around new people and interact with guys you play against every night," Guentzel said. "So just kind of take that all in and the rivalry's there, but having the mindset of let's just kind of come together out there and play together today was pretty fun."

The cross-state rivals had some pretty good chemistry, with Giroux - who was named the Tournament MVP - setting up Guentzel for a goal in the Metro's 6-4 win with a perfect pass right on his stick.
"He's a good player. He makes a lot of plays. I think he's a very smart hockey player, and we had a good time together," Giroux said before adding with a laugh, "It was kind of weird, but it was good."
Guentzel also collected an assist before racking up a pair of helpers in the championship game, where Jarry stood on his head as the clock ticked down in the final minute to lead the Metro to victory. Overall, he stopped 14 of 15 shots faced.

"It's fun, it's like a real game. It's tight like that," Jarry said. "The guys want to try and find a way to score, and I think it's just trying to put my best foot forward. Every time we step on the ice, we want to win. And I think it really shows when it gets down to the final minutes how hard the guys start trying."
They ended up earning a $1 million prize, which will be split between the players - so the guys definitely left Vegas winners on a few different levels.
"You can just see the buzz around the city and in the rink," Guentzel said. "It's a show here. So I think that was a special place to visit and get my first All-Star Game. It was a lot of fun. We're just lucky to be representing Pittsburgh and to be a small part of it. So hopefully we did a good job."